MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Russia’s battlegroup South has used the advanced T-14 Armata tanks in combat, a source in the Russian defense industry has told TASS.
"Members of [battlegroup] South actively used Armata in combat. Several vehicles participated in combat to see how the tank will perform. After that, they were withdrawn from the frontline," the source said.
Another source told the agency that the tank has already entered service with units of the Southern Military District. "The necessary trials of the T-14 tank still continue," he added.
So far, no official information has been published about Armata’s possible use during the special military operation.
The Armata is a heavy-tracked standardized platform serving as the basis to develop main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and some other armored vehicles.
The T-14 Armata-platform-based tank developed by the Uralvagonzavod defense manufacturer was unveiled to the public for the first time at Red Square’s Victory Day Parade on May 9, 2015. In 2019, the Armata tank underwent preliminary tests.
The new combat vehicle fundamentally differs from its predecessors. As its main advantage, it features an unmanned turret while its crew is located in an isolated armored capsule in the tank’s hull to operate armaments remotely, which helps substantially boost the crew’s survivability in combat.
Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport rolled out the export version of its cutting-edge Armata main battle tank at the Army 2022 international military-technical forum last August. The tank’s export version was unveiled as a scale model at the IDEX arms show in Abu Dhabi in February 2021.